Degradation is one of the key processes governing the impact of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Most studies on the degradation of pharmaceuticals have focused on soil and sludge, with fewer exploring persistence in aquatic sediments. We investigated the dissipation of 6 pharmaceuticals from different therapeutic classes in a range of sediment types. Dissipation of each pharmaceutical was found to follow first‐order exponential decay. Half‐lives in the sediments ranged from 9.5 (atenolol) to 78.8 (amitriptyline) d. Under sterile conditions, the persistence of pharmaceuticals was considerably longer. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationships between half‐lives of the pharmaceuticals, sediment physicochemical properties, and sorption coefficients for the compounds. Sediment clay, silt, and organic carbon content and microbial activity were the predominant factors related to the degradation rates of diltiazem, cimetidine, and ranitidine. Regression analysis failed to highlight a key property which may be responsible for observed differences in the degradation of the other pharmaceuticals. The present results suggest that the degradation rate of pharmaceuticals in sediments is determined by different factors and processes and does not exclusively depend on a single sediment parameter.
In this work, nanostructure zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films at temperature of substrate 450 oC and thickness (120) nm have been produced by chemical spray pyrolysis method. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements of the film showed that they have a polycrystalline structure and possessed a hexagonal phase with strong crystalline orientation of (103). The grain size was measured using scanning electron microscope (SEM) which was approximately equal to 80 nm. The linear optical measurements showed that ZnS nanostructure has direct energy gap. Nonlinear optical properties experiments were performed using Q-switched 532 nm Nd:YAG laser Z-scan system. The nonlinear refractive index (n2) and nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) estimated for Z
... Show MoreThe study involved the effectiveness of Iraqi attapulgite (IQATP) clay as an environmentally friendly material that easily adsorbs brilliant green (BG) dye from water systems and is identified by various complementary methods (e.g., FTIR, SEM‐EDS, XRD, ICP‐OES, pHpzc, and BET), where the result reported that the IQATP specific surface area is 29.15 m2/g. A systematic analysis was selected to evaluate the impact of different effective adsorption performance variables on BG dye decontamination. These variables included IQATP dosage (0.02–0.8 g/L), solution pH (3.05–8.15), contact time (ranging from 2 to 25 min), and initial BG dye concentration from 20 to 80 mg/L. The parameter
... Show MoreUpper limb amputation is a condition that severely limits the amputee’s movement. Patients who have lost the use of one or more of their upper extremities have difficulty performing activities of daily living. To help improve the control of upper limb prosthesis with pattern recognition, non-invasive approaches (EEG and EMG signals) is proposed in this paper and are integrated with machine learning techniques to recognize the upper-limb motions of subjects. EMG and EEG signals are combined, and five features are utilized to classify seven hand movements such as (wrist flexion (WF), outward part of the wrist (WE), hand open (HO), hand close (HC), pronation (PRO), supination (SUP), and rest (RST)). Experiments demonstrate that usin
... Show MoreMefenamic acid (MA) is one of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, it is widely used probably due to having both anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity, the main side effects of mefenamic acid include gastrointestinal tract (GIT) disturbance mainly diarrhea, peptic ulceration, and gastric bleeding. The analgesic effects of NSAIDs are probably linked to COX-2 inhibition, while COX-1 inhibition is the major cause of this classic adverse effects. Introduction of thiazolidinone may lead to the increase in the bulkiness leads to the preferential inhibition of COX-2 rather than COX-1 enzyme. The study aimed to synthesize derivatives of mefenamic acid with more potency and to decrease the drug's potential side effects, new series of 4-t
... Show MoreAim: This study aimed to assessing orthodontic knowledge and attitude among general dentists and non-orthodontic specialists. Background: Early detection of orthodontic disorders is essentialin motivating patients to intervene prior to long term complications when the disorders are not recongised. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed amongst dentistsother than orthodontists. This questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first one aimed to collect demographic, educational level and practice type information. Further two sections consisted of closed-end questions designed to evaluateknowledge and attitude of orthodontics. Results: A total of 313 responses to the survey were submitted. No significant correlation was observed, e
... Show MoreNew, simple and sensitive batch and Flow-injecton spectrophotometric methods for the determination of Thymol in pure form and in mouth wash preparations have been proposed in this study. These methods were based on a diazotization and coupling reaction between Thymol and diazotized procaine HCl in alkaline medium to form an intense orange-red water-soluble dye that is stable and has a maximum absorption at 474 nm. A graphs of absorbance versus concentration show that Beer’s law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.4-4.8 and 4-80 µg.ml-1 of Thymol, with detection limits of 0.072 and 1.807 µg.ml-1 of Thymol for batch and FIA methods respectively. The FIA procedure sample throughput was 80 h-1. All different chemical and physical e
... Show MoreThis study aims to fabricate and assess the β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) bioactive ceramic coat layer on bioinert ceramic zirconia implants through the direct laser melting technique by applying a long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser of 1064 nm. Surface morphologies, adherence, and structural change in the coatings were evaluated by optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, hardness, and x-ray diffractometer. The elastic modulus (EM) of the coating was also determined using the nanoindentation test. The quality of the coating was improved when the laser power was 90 W with a decrease in the scan speed to 4 mm s−1. The chemical composition of the coat was maintained after laser processing; also, the Energy Dispersive
... Show MoreAbstract
Objective: the idea of this study to improve transdermal permeability of Methotrexate using eucalyptus oil, olive oil and peppermint oil as enhancers.
Method: eucalyptus oil (2% and 4%), peppermint oil (2% and 4%) and olive oil (2% and 4%) all used as natural enhancers to develop transdermal permeability of Methotrexate via gel formulation. The gel was subjected to many physiochemical properties tests. In-vitro release and permeability studies for the drug were done by Franz cell diffusion across synthetic membrane, kinetic model was studied via korsmeyer- peppas equation.
Result: the results demonstrate that safe, nonirritant or cause necrosis to rats' skin and stable till 60 days gel was successfully formulated.<